Japan

Russia

Switzerland

U.S.A.

Other

I think about this topic every now and then, and while I have favourite skaters from pretty much every country that has figure skaters, I think I've liked pretty much every skater or team from France that's had any international success. I started thinking about the various French skaters and realized, "I have never found any French skater or team to be boring". I know the song is about the U.S.A., but the thought that just went through my head was, "God Bless The French" (says the devout atheist!).

So which country, other than your own, has the skaters that you just looooove?

P.S. I made the poll multiple choice, so you can pick as many countries as you like (love).

i saw hwi choi at JGP courchevel, and youtube linked up a lot of suggested vids of korean skaters. i must say i like the attention to beautiful arm and hand movements from many of the korean ladies in these videos--thank you ms. kim for your legacy.

it's not just the korean ladies though--ziquan zhao and zijun li have near lu chen level arm movements, too

OTOH i will always favor the US ladies because they have the nicest layback spins the world over and some of the nicest spirals.

i like many of the japanese ladies, too--mao asada, haruna suzuki, shion kokubun, haruka imai. daisuke takahashi is my favorite among the men (kozuka is second).

and i like ms. viljanen from finland--i prefer her to korpi, maybe even lepisto. back in the day i loved baiul and swevcenko and M&D. so i guess the country doesn't matter after all, unless you're talking about layback spins

But I have LOVED THE MOST from
Japan --- Ito, Honda, Oda, Arakawa, Suzuki, Takahashi, Hanyu to name a few
and Russia ---- too many to mention them all but here are a few Yagudin, Usova Zhulin, Slutskaya, Gordeeva Grinkov, Fadeev, Petrenko and Baiul who I know are from the Ukraine but represented USSR

It truly depends, because country affiliation has nothing to do with who I like -- it's all based on who moves me. I picked Germany in this instance because I am a huge fan of Savchenko/ Szolkowy. Obviously, Japan and Russia are winning in the poll due to the sheer numbers of skaters from those countries who possess amazing talent. Perhaps the numbers are down for USA due to many participating in the poll being from USA (or Canada).

I like North american's basics more than russian's basics (especially canadians). But about skaters, it depends. For example, I love Polina Korobeynikova, who is not a north american skater.
About the style, canadians again, and german pairs (from Schwarz&Muller, Woetzel&Steuer... to Savchenko&Szolkowy)

I don't like a skater based on where they are from at all, I just like who I like. It's nice to hear some other people say the same thing. I've been called unpatriotic because I don't always root for the American skaters (I'm from the US) just because they are American. The country that the most skaters I like are from though is Russia or Ukraine, G&G, G&P, K&O, M&D, N&K, Yagudin, Baiul, Petrenko, etc.

I think most of us don't like a skater based on their country either. We just happen to coincidentally like a lot of skaters from a certain country.

ETA: Or we might happen to like a characteristic that a lot of a country's skaters have.

Click to expand...

Yeah, like IMO French skaters tend to be voidy, Italian skaters tend to be emotive, Japanese skaters tend to have pure skating skills, Canadians tend to have CoP ready programs, etc. So one's preferences could favor one country because one prefers a certain style that country has in abundance, while also appreciating a skater from another country who has those qualities (eg, Takahashi is voidy and emotive in addition to having great skating skills).

For about my entire skate fan life until a few years ago, my favorite pairs have invariably been Russian. (For the last several years, I have had no favorite pair because they all suck by G&G/M&D standards.) Between 1984 and the end of the 1990s, it was also always the USSR/Russian ice dancers who were my favorites (though Klimova-Ponomarenko alone account for about 8 years of that). Russian/USSR men have also very often been my favorites (Petrenko, Kulik, Yagudin). Interestingly, I have never found any USSR or Russian lady to be much worth watching.